STARKVILLE -- A playground is as synonymous with an elementary school as a pint-sized box of milk.
When the recess bell rings, boys race out of the classroom with basketballs in hand and climb everything in the yard. Girls jump rope and lounge by the jungle gym.

STARKVILLE -- David Morgan struggles to accept the circumstances of his wife's cycling accident.
The Morgans feel Cedar Bluff woman Robbie Norton, who hit Jan Morgan with her car while Morgan and a friend were cycling in Clay County on May 22, broke the law but hasn't been punished.

Garbage pickup rates won't increase for Oktibbeha County residents, at least for the near future. The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted to allow President Marvell Howard to execute the renewal of the county's sanitation contract with Golden Triangle Service District Cooperative.

The search for a new Starkville School District superintendent begins Monday. SSD officials Tuesday finalized the criteria for the job announcement and accompanying brochure, taking into consideration recommendations from stakeholder and community meetings conducted by the Mississippi School Boards Association, which is contracted by the SSD to conduct the search.

Their calves ache from climbing steps; their backs are sore from carrying a 35-pound drink case. They're lucky to be able to speak after game day, from screaming "Ice-cold drinks!" over the sound of 55,000 clanging cowbells.